Automatically-threading loom shuttle



be reflected in the finished cloth, and one of.

Patented Dec. 16,

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARL 1). BROWN, "or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, Assrenoaro mmrmi CORPORA- TION, or HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. CORPORATION or MAINE AUTOMATICALLYQTHREADING LOOM SHUTTLE Application file di January 27, 1930. Serial No. 423,658.

This invention relates to automatically threading loomshuttles and is more particularly directed to means for 'tensioning the thread during weaving.

in weaving with certain kinds or characters of filling it is desirable that the thread may be tensioned on the first pick. of .the

shuttle following replenishment and that the same character of tension may be exercised duringsubsequent' weaving. I

In weaving with certain kinds of filling, such, for instance, as silk, artificialsilk, rayon, and the like, any variation in thread tens-ion during weaving or on the first pick of the shuttle iollowing replenishment will the objects of the present invention .is to provide a tensioning device for automatically threading loom shuttles which will'impart to the thread the desired tension on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment and maintain the sametension on the thread throughout subsequent weaving,

Attempts have been made heretofore to secure these results by providing the shuttle with a rigid arm extending.longitudinally of the threadpassage and causing the'thread to be wrapped about the rigidarm on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment, but :in such devices the tension on the thread has been dependent entirely upon frictional engagement of thethread about the rigid arm. Inasmuch, however, as the variable motions of the shuttle willat times cause. the thread to be slack and atother times to be tautened, such frictional engagement of the thread with the rigid arm has not'served the desired purpose. 7

it is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an auton'iatically threading loom shuttle with a resillient tensioningmember or members extending longitudinally oi the thread passage and about which the thread isfwrapped on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment, so that the resiliency of the tensioning member or members will serve to take up slackautomatically and maintain the thread under uniform tension throughout the weaving operation.

The invention and novel featuresthereot will best be made clear from the following description and; the accompanying drawings of one goodpractical form thereof.

In the drawings: 7 I

Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a shuttle containing the present invention, part of the threading block being broken away. to show the parts beneath;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shuttle and threading block with the parts positioned ready for assembly;

Fig. 3Vis an end perspective view of the threading block and tensioning members detached;

Fig.- 4 is a longitudinal section through the shuttle, showing the relation of parts when the shuttle is fully threaded; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view similar to that of Fig.

1, showing a slightly modified form of the invention. 7 The shuttle 1 may be-of the usual automatically threading type and is provided with a bobbin chamber 2 detachably holding a wound package, such, for instance, as the bobbin 3 having the filling thread i wound thereon. The detachable means for holding the bobbin in the bobbin chamber is not herein shown and described because it is of the usual bobbin aw type now well understood in the art. 1 a 1 Forward of thebobbin chamber the shuttle 'is provided with a longitudinal thread passage to the side delivery eye, the shuttle is provided with a post 7 about which the thread passes on its way from the longitudinal passage to the side delivery eye.

'llhethreading block in thepresent instance of the invention comprises a top plate 8 which may be secured to the shuttle by appropriate means, such, for instance, as a screw 9 passed downwardly through an opening 10 in the top plate and into thewoodof the shuttle beneath. The screw 9 preferably is passed through a side flange 11 of the top plate and from such flange the top plate extends forwardly, as at 12, to provide a thread director 13 for directing the thread downwardly in the passage 1% between the edge of the director and the wood of the shuttle to the side delivery eye 6. So far as the present invention is concerned, the threading block may be of any usual character but that herein shown and described, presents a good practical form of this feature, and in order to steady the thread directing pin 7, the upper portion of said pin 7 may be seated in an opening 1.3 in the. top plate.

Mounted in the shuttle is a thread guide which is engaged by the swirling thread on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment, whereby thethread is caused to take a substantially circular path. lhe thread guide may be variously contrived to direct the thread in a circular path, but as herein shown it is formed as a scroll 16 having convolute portions, and one end thereof, as at 17, is extended upwardly and secured to the top plate between the bobbin chamber and side delivery eye, the eiiect being that as the shuttle is picked following replenishment, the swirling thread will engage the scroll and follow the convolutions in a substantially circular path towards the center of the scroll.

In accordance with the present invention, the resilient thread tensioning member extends from the thread guide longitudinally of the thread passage, and about such resilient tensioning member the thread is wrapped as the shuttle is picked following replenishment, so that the thread is subjected to both the frictional retardation as it is withdrawn from the shuttle and also to the take-up tension due to the resiliency of the tensioning member.

In the present instance of the invention, the tensioning effect upon the thread is shown as effected by a plurality of tensioning members which extend from the thread guide or scroll, it being understood that the term pluralitv indicates two or more of said tensioning members, and as the thread is directed in its circular path by the thread guide or scroll, it is wrapped about the plurality of tensioning members which thereafter rcsiliently by relative movement towards and from each other to impart and maintain the requisite tension on the thread. Where a plurality of tensioning members is employed, at least one of them shall be resilient.

As shown in the present instance of the invention, the resilient tensioning members comprise the three fingers 18 whose rear end portions are secured to aconvolution or coil of the scroll, as indicated at 19, and preferably the rear ends oi the tensioning members are connected to the scroll substantially central thereof, with the result that as the thread ollows the convolutions of the scroll on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment, it will be wrapped about the three tensioning members as a unit, as indicated more clearly in Figs. 1 and 4, so that thereafter the resilient tensioning members will act e2:- pansively within the convolutions of the thread and yield relatively under abnormal thread tension and expand relatively within the wrappings of the thread when the thread slackens, to thereby take up such slack.

To prevent the thread from unwrapping from the plurality of thread tensioning members, each of the latter has its free end turned outwardly, as at20, thereby constituting a. thread retainer, and during weaving the thread will maintain its wrapped condition about the plurality of thread tensioning members without unwinding therefrom. As a further development of the thread retaining feature constituted primarily by the outturn-ed free ends 20, each of the resilient thread tensioning members is provided with an enlargement, as at 21, so that during Weaving the thread retainer on each of the resilient tensioning members maintains the thread in its wrapped condition about the plurality of resilient tensioning members to take up slack by the relative yielding action of the resilient tensioning members. While the thread be tensioned somewhat by frictional engagement with its wrappings about the tensioning member or members, the primary characteristic of the present invention resides in the resiliency of at least one of the tensioning members about which the thread is wrapped, and where a plurality of tensioning members are employed, as indicated in the present instance of the invention, the thread will be wrapped about such plurality of tensioning members as a unit on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment and be thereafter retained in such spirally wrapped condition. during subsequent weaving.

The construction is such that on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment, the thread a will be directed by the thread guide or scroll 16 in a substantially circular path, and will be spirally wrapped about the several resilient tensioning members as a unit, thereby tensioning the thread on the first pick of the shuttle and thereafter, and during subsequent weaving the out-turned end portions of the resilient tensioning me1n bers will act to retain the thre d in its wrapped condition about the resi -ent tensioning members as a unit, so that when the tension of the thread increases, as it may under weaving conditions, the tensioning members will yield towards each other relatively and give up to the increased tension of the thread, and when the thread slackens. as it will when the shuttle. comes to rest, the resilient tensioning members will act within the wrappings of the thread to take up an; slack, thereby maintaining substantially uniform tension on the thread on the first pick lltl of the shuttle following replenishment and likewise during subsequent weaving. V 7 A modification of the construction hereinbefore described is shown in Fig. '5 wherein the thread guide or scroll 16 may be the same as in the preferred form of the invention and act in thesame way, but the resilient thread tensioning members which extend longitudinally from the scroll in the longitudinal thread passage are provided with turns or bends22 which serve to maintain the wrappings of the thread a about the tensioning members by engaging such tenslonlng members between the bends or loops 02 v v V n-/ IThe tensioning members in the modified form of the invention have their free and portions slidably; engaged, which may be readily accomplished by forming the end of each tensioning member with an eye 23 looped about the inturned end portion of the companion resilient tensioning' member.

ent invention to form the resilient thread tensioning members in any approved manner to act upon the wrappings of the thread in V which they are contained as a unit.

What is claim-ed is: V 1. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a, longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith,

a pluralityof thread tensioning members extending longitudinally of the thread passage and relatively yieldable in a direction towards and from each other, and thread guiding means to cause the thread during the first pick'o'f the shuttle to be wrapped about the plurality of tensioning members as a unit as the thread is withdrawn from the shuttle, to thereby secure the same character'of tension during the first and subsequent picks ofthe shuttle following replenishment.

2. An automatically threading loom shuttle havinga longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith, a plurality of resilient tensioning members extending longitudinally of the thread passage and relatively yieldable towards and from each other, and thread guiding means mounted in the shuttle adjacent the entrance to the longitudinal thread passage to cause'the thread during the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment to be wrapped about the pluralityof resilient tensioning members as a unit as the thread is withdrawn from the shuttle that theresilienttensioning members may act within the wrappings of the thread to maintain tension thereon.

. 3. An automatically threading loom shuttle having abobbin-chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith,thread guiding means between thebobbin chamber and side delivery eye for directing the thread in a substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the first pick following replenishment, and a plurality of'resilient tensioning members extending axially of the longitudinal thread passage and about which as a unit the thread is caused to be wrapped as it ,is withdrawn from the shuttle that the resilient tensioning members may act within the thread wrappings to tension the thread during the first and-subsequent picks.

4. An automatically threading loom shuttle having abobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage'and a side delivery eye,ascroll between thebobbin chamber and side delivery eye fordirecting the thread in a substantially circular path as itis withdrawn fromtheshuttle on the first pick following replenishment,

and" a pluralityof resilient tensionin'gmembersextendmg fromthe scroll axially of the longitudinal thread'passage andabout which as a unit the thread is wrapped as it is withdrawn from the shuttle that the resilient tensioning members may act within the thread wrappings to tension the thread during weaving. d

5. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passageand a side delivery eye, a scroll between the'bobbin chamber and side delivery eye for directing the thread in a' substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the first pick following replenishment, and a plurality of resilient tensioning members extending from ,the central portion of the scroll axially of the longitudinal thread passage and about which as a unit the thread is wrapped as it is withdrawn from the shuttle that the resilient tensioning membersmay .act within the thread wrappings to tension the thread during weavlng. j

6. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage, and a side delivery eye, a scroll for directing the thread-in'a substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the'first pick following replenishment of filling and a plurality of resilient tensi'oning members vextending frontwardly from the scroll in the longitudinal thread passage and about which the thread is directedhy the scrollfas the thread iswithdrawn from the shuttle that the resilient tensioning members may act expansively within the thread wrappings to place tension on the thread during weaving.

7. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith, a scroll at the rear portion of the longitudinal thread passage for directing the thread in a substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the first pick following replenishment, resilient tensioning members extending forwardly from the scroll in the longitudinal thread passage and having their free ends turned outwardly that the thread may be passed about the tensioning members by the scroll and the tensioning members thereafter act expansively upon the thread to place tension thereon during weaving.

8. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a longitudinal thread passage and side delivery eye communicating therewith, a scroll mounted at the rear of the thread passage, a plurality of resilient tensioning fingers secured to the scroll and having their free ends extending frontwardly from the scroll in the thread passage and provided with thread retaining portions that the thread may be wrapped spirally about the plurality of resilient tensioning fingers as a unit on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment and held from becoming unwrapped by the tiread retaining portions during weaving.

9. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye, a plurality of resilient tensioning members eX- tending longitudinally of the thread passage and having their free ends turned outwardly to constitute thread retainingportions. and a thread guide having convolute portions for directing the thread spirally about the plurality of resilient tensioning members as a unit on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment that the resilient tensioning members may act expansively within the spiral thread convolution to tension the thread and take up slack.

10. An autoinaticallv threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye, a plurality of resilient tensioning members eX- tending longitudinally of the thread passage and having their free ends turned outwardly and provided with enlargements to constitute thread retaining portions, and a thread guide having convolute portions for directing the thread spirally about the plurality of resilient tensioning members as a unit on the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment that the resilient tensionino; members may act expansively within the spiral thread convolution to tension the thread and take up slack.

11. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith, a resilient thread tensioning member extending longitudinally of the thread passage, and having the free end thereof turned outwardly constituting a thread retainer, and a thread guide having convolute portions between the bobbin chamber and side delivery eye for directing the thread spirally about the resilient tensioning member between the free out-turned end thereof and the thread guide that the resiliency of the tensioning member will act upon the thread with the same character of tension during the first and subsequent picks of the shuttle following replenishment.

12. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith, a thread guide for directing the thread in a substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the first pick following replenishment, and a plurality of thread tensioning members e. tending longitudinally of the thread passage and about which as a unit the thread is wrapped during the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment to cause the plurality of tensioning members to act within the thread wrappings to tension the thread.

13. An automatically threading loom shuttle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye coinmunicating therewith, a thread guide for directing the thread in a substantially circular path as it is withdrawn from the shuttle on the first pick following replenishment, and a plurality of thread tensioning members. one of which is resilient, extending longitudinally of the thread passage and about which as a unit the thread is wrapped during the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment that the plurality of tensioning members may act within the thread wrappings.

14. An automatically threading loom shut tle having a bobbin chamber, a longitudinal thread passage and a side delivery eye communicating therewith, a resilient thread tensioning member extending lengthwise of the longitudinal thread passage, and a thread guide for directing the thread about the re silient tensioning member to wind it thereon during the first pick of the shuttle following replenishment that the resilient thread tensioning member may be deflected by the thread wrappings and take up slack by its resilient action when the thread becomes slack.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

' CARL D. BROWN.

1 iii 

